Electric
by galimeril
Summary: Prolonged exposure to high voltage makes everything difficult. Voluntary muscular control, accessing the force...breathing. Whumpy AU tag for episode 3x09 for The Clone Wars. No Slash, just camaraderie.


I haven't finished the Clone Wars and this is so unBeta'd. I wrote it for my own enjoyment and desire for consequences for exposure to things like bullets, broken limbs and electricity. I watched Obi-Wan get tasered for like 10 seconds and then get up as if nothing happened, so I decided to fix it.

Don your slash goggles if you wish, but I don't write relationships or smut.

Cross-posted in AO3.

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, The Clone Wars, or any of the characters depicted here. I am making no profit from this work.

* * *

Quinlan spat a foul Huttese curse as he fell, his sabre twirling away from his fingertips. Cad Bane's kriffing droid snatched it up as he tried to cushion his landing and snatch his weapon back at the same time.

His split focus cost him. Breath huffed out all at once as he smacked into the unforgiving rock face. He wasn't sure if his shoulder was bruised or if something had broken, but he didn't have time to take stock. As he gathered the Force, he watched Obi-Wan continue to battle Bane. The droid had given him little trouble, and he now grasped Quinlan's lightsaber in his off-hand. He swung the blades with deadly precision that spoke of long practice. Obi wan fought with grace and, above all, control.

He doesn't see the trap until it's sprung.

With a move too fast to follow, Bane was suddenly wielding Quin's blade against Obi-Wan. Quin's heart sank as he saw the bounty hunter take an unfamiliar weapon from his opponent and use it against him, rather than fall back on his own arsenal. The Force cried a warning, but too late.

Quinlan managed to release his own pain into the Force and drag himself back to his feet when he saw Bane allow Obi-Wan to disarm him. In that moment of unbalance, Cad struck.

Electricity coursed through Obi-Wan, tearing a cry from his lips that seemed not to end. A chill ran down Quinlan's spine as the ragged screams bounced off the canyon walls and were abruptly silenced.

Quinlan leapt through the mist, landing on the outcropping. Bane released the silenced Obi-Wan as the last echoes stilled. Catching sight of the other Jedi, he dropped the limp form and delivered a swift kick to the downed man as he continued on his way.

Quinlan moved to prevent the bounty-hunter's escape. Before he took a second step, there was a whisper on the wind, more felt than heard.

" _Quin-_ …"

It faded, but Quinlan stopped in his tracks as the Force plucked at his robes. He sped back towards the prone form, the engines of a ship spooling up behind him.

He ignored the small craft taking off as he skidded to a halt beside the prone form of Obi-Wan. He crouched, fingers searching for a pulse. A faint tattoo beat against his palm. Obi-Wan's eyes were wide but glazed; the light dimming behind them as Vos sensed the flutter of fear from the wounded Jedi but no answering stirring of breath against his cheek.

The shock Bane had delivered must have done something - paralyzed a muscle group or incapacitated some nerve cluster. All Quinlan knew was that Obi-Wan wasn't breathing, and he didn't show any signs of starting on his own.

He tilted the bearded man's chin up and sealed his lips over Obi-Wan's mouth. He released a forceful breath, and then another before reaching down and gently compressing Obi-Wan's chest. His own chest protested the exaggerated breaths and he felt an echo to his pain beneath him as the borrowed air flowed past parted lips.

Obi-Wan's beard tickled his cheeks as he continued to breathe for the stricken man and time became irrelevant as he lost himself in the rhythm. His mind absented his actions, casting out for threats and brushing Obi-Wan's calming mind. He was still helpless, but Quinlan could see he was trying to help his body re-establish some semblance of control.

A return brush across his consciousness brought him out of his trance-like state. He realized that he could feel shallow breaths beneath his palm that he hadn't initiated. He met Obi-Wan's eyes and saw the relief and gratitude there.

When he was sure he could stop, Quinlan collapsed onto his elbow next to Obi-Wan, gazing up at the dusky sky. He was startled to realize the dipping sun hadn't moved terribly far. Less than an hour had passed. He took a moment to catch his breath and soothe his aching shoulder while listening to the shallow exhalations next to him. Nothing had sounded sweeter.

As he collected himself, he took in their surroundings. They were stuck in the middle of the canyon and the sun was sinking faster now. It would soon be nightfall, and they needed to find shelter soon or get the hell off this forsaken planet. He said as much to Obi-Wan, but was met with only a sense of frustration from him.

Quin slid his eyes back to Obi-Wan. "Can you speak?"

The sense of frustration only intensified. _Blast!_ Quin rolled himself to his feet, hunching slightly over his own hurts. In a moment of brutal honesty, he acknowledged that he could not get both himself and Obi-Wan all the way back to the ship in his current condition. He wasn't even sure he could make it back alone. Without the crutch of adrenaline to lean on, his creaking shoulder, rolled joints and sheer exhaustion dragged him down. He would have to find shelter so that they both could rest and begin healing.

He said as much to his fallen companion, setting off to seek shelter. He slipped deeper into the canyon, retrieving his lightsaber. It didn't take long to locate a suitable cave. The challenge lay in getting both himself and Obi-Wan up the steep slope that led to the cave mouth.

Quin hurried back to Obi-Wan through the thickening gloom.

* * *

It had been slow going, but several stops to rest and one to immobilize his arm and assuage his smarting shoulder later, Quin had delivered Obi-Wan to the small cave. He propped the slighter man against one of the walls, his head lolling to the side. It disturbed him to see Kenobi so helpless, but he didn't let it show on his face as he tilted him into a more comfortable position. As he arranged Obi-Wan's limbs so as to not hinder any blood flow, he felt a finger twitch against his wrist.

He pulled back enough to meet Obi-Wan's tired eyes. "Well, that's a good sign, right? Can you get anything else to move?"

A slow blink and a slight shift of the opposite foot answered him. "It looks like some of your voluntary muscles are starting to wake back up. I don't imagine that feels terribly good. And, you're still awfully quiet. Can you give me a double blink for yes and one for no, by any chance?"

He watched in trepidation, hoping his initial assessment was correct. Slowly, but unmistakably, Obi-Wan's eyes shuttered twice in sequence. Quin sat back on his heels with a breathless chuckle. "Excellent, we'll have you back to negotiating in no time as this rate."

Remembering the echoes of pain beneath his palm and the still-shallow breaths sustaining his companion, Quin realized that they weren't out of the woods yet. "Kenobi."

He waited until the other's eyes settled back on him. Knowing the lack of control was probably bothering him, Quin tried to give a little of it back. "Can I check your chest? If Bane broke any of your ribs, it will probably be easier to breathe if we wrap them." He waited, eyes locked with the still form. Obi-Wan was a private man at the best of times, but…one slow blink…then another. Quin let out a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding at the show of trust.

He situated himself at the other man's hip and gently undid the clasps of his tunic. The rough material peeled away from sweat-slicked skin that paled beneath an inky bruise that covered most the left side of Obi-Wan's chest and abdomen. Quin winced in sympathy. Obi-Wan was not going to like what happened next.

Quin ran his fingers along the margins of the injury and then gently pressed down. The silence and stillness that met the shifting of bone beneath his hands was eerie. He realized Obi-Wan had stopped breathing again and that lines of tension ran around his closed eyes. Quin ran his fingers soothingly over the other man's bearded check and down his neck, repeating the motion and whispering to Kenobi, "Breathe. Just breathe, Obi-Wan."

It seemed to ground the other Jedi, as he drew one stuttering breath and then another, the rhythm of involuntary breaths coming to bear once again. Quin pulled a roll of bandages out of the meager medical supplies he had on his person. He considered it for a moment before he pushes the tunic off of Obi-Wan's shoulders and gently tilts him forward as he winds the cloth strips about the slim frame resting against his chest.

He did his best to ignore the muted edge of pain digging at the edges of his perception. He tugged the tunic back into place and maneuvered Obi-Wan into a prone position with his head pillowed on Quinlan's thigh while he propped his own aching shoulders against the cool cave wall.

"Is that comfortable enough for you?"

Two fluttering blinks.

"Good. I'm knackered. I've been keeping an eye out for the last few hours. This planet is mostly uninhabited. We should be fine here for a few hours. I need some sleep and you…you need more time to heal."

He tentatively laid his fingertips on the prone man's forehead. "Can I put you in a healing trance?"

One slow blink. Quin tensed and started to withdraw his hand. Before he could break contact, Obi-Wan's eyes closed a second time and remained shuttered. Quin cast out with his senses and found Obi-Wan's shields lowered. With a small smile, he guided Obi-Wan's mind to a place deeper than sleep.

Resting one hand on Obi-Wan's chest to monitor his breathing, Quin tilted his head back and drifted into a much lighter slumber, his breaths unconsciously synched to the ones beneath his palm.

* * *

Quin startled awake when his cheek was tapped. He found early-morning sun flooding the cave entrance and a pair of stormy grey eyes peering up from his lap.

"Feeling better?"

The voice that floated up to him was hoarse and weak, but a welcome sound nonetheless. "Getting…there."

"Do you think you can stand?"

"One way…to…find out."

Quin shifted to his knees, groaning at the stiffness in his own body. He leaned down, offering a hand up to the other Jedi. Obi-Wan made an uncoordinated grab for the proffered hand and Quinlan pulled him to his feet. For a moment, it looked like Kenobi's unsteady legs would hold him. Then they buckled, nearly dumping the Jedi master back on the floor.

Quinlan caught him before he tumbled, throwing the arm opposite Obi-Wan's broken ribs over his shoulder and hauling him back upright. He was pretty sure he could hear some choice Mandoa phrases underneath the pained hissing. "You've been spending too much time with Captain Rex. If Master Yoda hears you talking like that, he's going to whack you with his gimmer stick. Do you want to try walking?"

"Please. I want to get off this kriffing planet."

With Quin's support, Obi-Wan managed to drag his feet along in a stumbling approximation of a shuffle. It took a hell of a lot longer to make their way back to the shuttle than either of them was comfortable with, but they finally made it.

They took off, the sprawling canyon becoming just another scar on the landscape as they made their way back to the fleet and the war.


End file.
